Monday, April 16, 2012

I heard a conversation on the radio this morning about whether or not Jesus advocated for larger or smaller government.  On the one hand, the whole disagreement seems rather trite—aimed more at the personal gain of too few and at the expense of many others.  But Jesus says to us: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.” 

Jesus says that I need another advocate.  Or taken in the broader sense, Jesus says that Christians need another advocate.  Government large or small aside, this seems surprising. 

In my culture, high value is placed on personal freedom and responsibility.  Many people believe that your future is what you make—that it shouldn’t have to do with your race, nationality, creed, or condition.  And we’re used to understanding, presuming, and believing that if we want to believe and follow Jesus, we just do it—it’s up to us.  So it’s surprising to hear Jesus totally put the brakes on that!  “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  …[This Advocate abides with you, and will be in you.” 

In a way, Jesus is saying, “it isn’t up to us”—alone; it’s at least going to be us and the Advocate. 

That I need another advocate sounds strange in a world built around self-reliance and personal responsibility.  But I find it’s also “good news” for me—in a world that puts enormous expectations on us to “do it ourselves.” 

But the starting place for Jesus’ words about the Advocate come in the context of keeping Jesus’ commandments—if we love him.  I like to think that “I love Jesus,” but I also seldom ask whether or not I’m keeping all his commandments.  The truth of our human condition is like when I ask my young children if they “were good” at an event or for a shopping trip with their mom—meaning, did they act respectfully and comply with mom’s requests.  They sometimes say, “I was MOSTLY good; I was just a little bit bad.” 

I suspect that when we ask ourselves in earnest if we “love Jesus,” and the measure is “keeping Jesus’ commandments”—most of us have to concede something lacked.  Does that mean we don’t love Jesus?  I don’t think so.  Because we have another Advocate.